Smoking in the Future

Why are there so many characters smoking in the future in the Alien films? I take a look at the in-universe and real-world reasoning. Friendly warning: this video contains a great deal of tobacco use depiction.

[@paulyoung5641]

I think the high volume of smoking makes canonical sense in a retro-futuristic world where they still have clunky mechanical keyboards, paper media and fat monitors that look like classic televisions.

[@ashleybanks-wm4cg]

Or as I call them: Star Trek computers

[@isthisoneunavailable]

Mechanical Keyboards are never going anywhere. They may become a niche item, but there wll always be a subsect of people that refuse to use anything else. That inbuilt haptic feedback just feels right.

[@paulyoung5641]

@@isthisoneunavailable don’t get me wrong, I prefer mechanical keyboards as well. I have a MacBook and I never use its shitty tiny keys.

[@thomaseriksen6885]

I can type on a keyboard, on a phone I just hope for the best. Too proud to fix the resulting mistakes

[@ketomine.]

@@isthisoneunavailable and, the clickity clackity is always satisfying, basically the bubble wrap of computers

[@obsidianspectre4281]

Her smoking made the lab fire alarm scene fully legit.

[@2PurpleSwitchs]

Never thought of that Ripley was saved by lighting up 😂😂

[@chrissyknowsitall5170]

I always thought of that when she uses her lighter.

[@WMFilms25]

Don’t forget the the whole reason why Corbin Dallas in the Fifth Element saved the Earth. It wasn’t because of love, but because he was a smoker who had one match left.

[@PhillieCheezeKC]

“Today, smoking is going to save lives”

[@chrissyknowsitall5170]

@@WMFilms25 good one!!!

[@Teaniinja]

So i believe smoking in the Alien movies were always a way to clue the audience in that these are working class folks. The reason for the smoking is fairly important to its implementation.

[@qetoun]

good point. It's no secret that it took inspiration from Dark Star a parody and inversion of 2001. Valley Forge likely played a role.

[@BladePocok]

Even the soldiers/marines?

[@Bj5m17h]

Yeah, they were more like space truckers than astronauts.

[@JoseRRodriguez]

@@BladePocoksoldiers and marines are military working class

[@superstar5123]

what?

[@benderbendingrodriguez420]

A video about smoking that doesnt talk down to people who smoke tobacco? Thank you Alien Theory, another example of how genuine of a human being you are

[@bobbydigital8056]

Non smokers are some of the most annoying self righteous assholes you'll ever meet.

[@thesis_gaia7960]

I mean, its printed in the fucking cigar box all the harms it makes, I don't need nobody to tell me what I already know and see everytime I pick up one cig and lit it.

[@blazingstar9638]

@@thesis_gaia7960right 😂😂

[@Inexpressable]

smoking tobacco is fine. its the shit the companies put in it to kill you that's an issue.

[@williammullinax6130]

@@thesis_gaia7960 It's not the smoking I have an issue with. Do what you want. But smokers are very inconsiderate in public and think the ground is an acceptable place for their cigarette butts. I don't want to breath in your smoke and I don't want to see all the butts littering the ground everywhere... If y'all want to kill yourselves that's fine, but I don't want to breath it in.

[@RingworldTyrant]

An important consideration too: smoking tends to be prevalent in working-class occupations associated with higher risk-taking or lower life-expectancy. For example, you see grunts in the military, specifically combat arms, who continue to chew and smoke tobacco. Some of this has to do with it not being prohibited, like cannabis, some of it has to do with being in an environment of "I could be dead tomorrow, what does posion today matter?". The same attitude used to exist in industrial age factory workers up through the 1970s and 1980s in the West, as well as other high-risk professions. Concerns over your health and well-being could be construed as a luxury item, or a concern of those more intellectually-gifted than your typical "working stiff" of which so much of these characters are based on. Aliens is lifted from a very dark, industrial, and explicitly modern (not post-modern) cultural consciousness and environment, so having all these characters smoke becomes considerably more humanizing. The romanticization of it, or at least, more prevalent portayal of it in new film, is probably a result of realizing that older, sometimes darker world was more interesting. The same reason we see so much nostalgic media now instead of new visions--the cultural consciousness is exhausted and trying to find the embers of life again. In addition to being a narrative device deeply engrained into cinema's memory, smoking comes with watching that highlight reel again and again. And I just don't think weed can ever be portrayed in the same way as Humphrey Bogart slow-rolling a home made cigarette, or Ripley tapping the ash off her Imperial with a shaking hand as you show, the same as a crushed budweiser can on a dashboard in Scarface or the hack of chewing tobacco in The Wild Bunch. Some vices are windows into characters that can't be supplanted effectively with others. Lastly, Alien was concieved and released in 1979, the height of employment in manufacturing in the USA--literally the height of the Fordist political-economic system. What better representation of the era than in a cup of black coffee and a smoke break as the towers of steel and off-gas fire reach into the sky?

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

I like this idea. The future envisioned by Alien is one of "blue collar futurism," but also one where corporations have almost limitless power and the average worker could be disappeared on a whim. So on one hand, you could see workers latching onto a classic stress-reliever to get through the day. At the same time, I wouldn't put it past corporations like Wayland-Yutani to re-introduce nicotine addiction to the population, given that they'll never face legal consequences anyway...

[@whitebeardskydaddy6756]

👍Yep, pretty much

[@Zeithri]

I'm going to argue against you here and say it has NOTHING to do with your choice of work, but rather how dumb you were as a teenager. And let me tell you, there's a WHOLE LOT of dumb people out there. People the tobacco and alcohol industry counts on to remain dumb.

[@RipOffProductionsLLC]

The uses of smoking in film is enormous. The method of consumption (pipe, cigarette, or cigar) says something about the character using it, it adds visual interest to the scene, it can exaggerate expressions as it shifts in the mouth and the smoke flutters on their breath, it casts light, and so on. It also gives characters a reason to have matches or a lighter, which depending on what story you're writing, might be useful.

[@thwiftlythwept7023]

When you think about it from the screenwriting perspective, Fordist conception of corporatism is just an easier way to get to the same idea of corporate power as a more true-to-today setting of less vertically integrated corps where W-Y is an overlord corp/almost a bank. Why mess around when a megacorp tells the story better?

[@Tomfoolery1972]

Totally off subject but i just need to get this in writing - in 1986 me and three other 14-year-old friends went to see Aliens when it was brand new at Parkway Mall Cinemas in Saint John, New Brunswick. We were the only people there, it was a matinee showing. The movie was awesome, of course, one of my all-time favourites... but what i also remember equally fondly was that we put our friend Mike's large "soda" in a seat by itself several rows in front of us and connected enough plastic straws together to reach it. I still remember our hysterical laughing when he sucked on the straw and "it worked", he was able to drink it from several rows away. One of the best memories of my time on this earth, I'll never forget it.🥤😎🍿

[@rodan9773]

🥤````````````````````````````🧑🏼 ( Eureka it works ) drinks happily. Lol.

[@Teaniinja]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing

[@Menaceblue3]

​@@rodan9773 Erika? You mean Eureka?

[@rodan9773]

@@Menaceblue3 . . . . .DO'H bloody Dyslexia ya i meant that 🤦‍♂️

[@danielsbox27]

Good memories of being a kid are awesome. We lose something when we turn into adults. I try not to lose that fun side. Thanks for sharing.

[@Fulgrim2]

I just figured it’s just that damn stressful in the future it drives people to light up, I mean they got lo sticks in 40K.

[@gabegu5102]

It doesn't get anymore stressful than 40k 🤣

[@Fulgrim2]

Xeelee Sequence, it’s just insane.

[@nothanks9503]

Stimulant mood booster hunger suppressant yeah sounds perfect for most future scenarios

[@LordVader1094]

​@@gabegu5102I'll echo: Xeelee Sequence. 40k is downright hopeful by comparison.

[@Daniel_Paterson]

I think smoking in the Alien films really adds to the cassette futurism aesthetic and that it's inclusion in more recent entries in the franchise are done to make the environment feel retro-futuristic.

[@morbidone88]

I smoke quite a bit, and never started with peer pressure. I started smoking for a far worse reason... to have a reason to take a break.. btw, it has saved many a veteran when it came to taking enemy fire and bombardment. Everything has its use

[@loosemeatsamich3689]

In solidarity of the crew of the nostromo, I lit up a smoke.

[@karasushiro2636]

same

[@ryans756]

In solidarity with you, I rolled a doobie.

[@DarkheartedMKGames]

same here brother

[@Itsyrm8]

Sh.t! Just ran out of supply..

[@roberthoople]

Yup!

[@m-erko]

In 5th Element, Bruce Willis' character smoked cigarettes that had filters that were 3/4 the length of the cigarette, but lit with a 19th century match so it could become a plot device. His smokes reminded me of when in the 70's I traded cigarettes with a Russian soldier - the Russian ones were much longer than my Marlboros but only had one inch of greasy tobacco at the end & a long hollow cardboard tube that you sort of pinched to to stop the last bit of burning garbage flying into your mouth.

[@Riceball01]

It was more than just that. It was part of a program to quit smoking and the cigarettes were in a dispense and each cigarette in the dispenser had a gradually longer filter in it.

[@arbuz_kawon]

Oh man, they were the Byelamorskiy Kanal ("White Sea Canal")! I've heard about them when I was a kid and wasn't sure if it was real or a tall tale about the quality of Russian goods in general (I'm Polish)

[@RoachDogggJR]

+10 rads

[@Atmatan]

​@@RoachDogggJRLittle did you know but this is also an MTG reference now 😂

[@RoachDogggJR]

@@Atmatan flint michigan lore

[@HazzardousEco]

Considering how stressful it is to work for corrupted mega corpo's like Weland-Yutani, plus dealing with alien bugoids like the Xenomorphs, I can't blame anyone for smoking it up

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

They were truck drivers, basically. I thought they were miners but they just towed the refining plant and ore through space. They didn't even work in the refinery. They also slept nearly the entire trip and got paid for it! The maintenance guys were always b¡tching that they wanted a bigger share, which to me was representative of the lousy industrial union employees of the 70's, especially the lazy American auto plant union guys. You know, "don't buy a Chevy that was built on a Monday or a Friday". THOSE guys. I don't think it got stressful until Ash let that face hugger on board... 🤔

[@ObiClon]

As a child born in the late 80's & growing up in the 90's- early/mid 2000's I remember smoking being almost everything in things. Nowadays I rarely see it but I barely noticed as it was phased out as time went on.

[@grahamjones5400]

Yeah! 😂 I remember back in the 90s, going to donut shops and seeing tons of Post Office workers smoking like chimneys.lol

[@ObiClon]

@@grahamjones5400 it seems like a rough job

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

Damn, And here I'm remembering being in uni in the 2nd half of the 90's, and spending half my time living in bars and clubs where the smoke was so thick you couldn't see the ceiling, and you had to be careful not to get burned by someone's cigarette when the dancefloor was crowded! I lost some decent clothes to burn holes from strangers' smokes.

[@somethindarker]

"Why do people smoke?" "Because fuck you, that's why." "..."

[@Warhawk76]

Because being an idiot is a fundamental human right.

[@somethindarker]

@@Warhawk76 /watch?v=G6ozHscfyfY

[@mexican_pelican9238]

top ten ways to miss the point of the video​@@Warhawk76

[@jamesmcmackin8773]

Let's pretend there's not an abundance of great and influential minds across human history who just chose to indulge in a vice and smoked. Should I believe that everyone who eats themselves past the point of fitness is simply of low intellect?@@Warhawk76

[@isthisoneunavailable]

@@Warhawk76 It feels nice. Releases endorphins. Getting a nice char/bark on a steak is carcinogenic too, but plenty of people ask for it on their steak anyway because they just like it.

[@singletona082]

'Not unusual to see people lighting up on screen.' Heck, cigerette positioning was part of the on screen body language of characters and a convenient prop when acting.

[@SerpentNight]

Likewise, in the Star Trek universe people are still hooked on caffeine products. It's coffee, not dilithium, that keeps things running on starships.

[@RingworldTyrant]

A lot of that, specifically Star Trek, is pulling in culture from America's nuclear navy. As atomic power keeps the ships steaming, the primary concern ceases to be fuel of the ship, and turns to fueling of the men. BTW cool Shadow profile pic.

[@gabegu5102]

Every captain except drank some type of caffeine latent drink. I guess in the 24 century people still need their stimulant. Except Kirk. Kirk guess he was his own stimulant 🤣

[@MikeSmith-rh5gc]

There’s also a no smoking sign on the transporter pad

[@thek838]

Caffeine is healthy though so it's only logical.

[@qetoun]

Didn't they drink 'Syna-hol? Some kind of booze knockoff?

[@gulc]

Regarding Ripleys smoking after her traumatic experiences: I watched an interview with a volunteer fighting in the Ukraine war, and he said "Healthy living is admirable, but in a combat situation smoking absolutely does save lives."

[@DellikkilleD]

people underestimate the value of taking 5 min to collect your thoughts

[@herbaldragon7646]

smoked over 30 years, quit been 2 months now, holy crap still fighting the urges while watching this lol

[@toxicKorgi]

Good for you, man. Take care of yourself!

[@ikmor]

Get mad at the companies for using you as their money cow by altering your entire physical being into something that CRAVE their product, no matter what harm it does to you, the living beings around you, and all of nature. And then use that anger.

[@Angel9932]

I had the same urge and I quite smoking several years ago. It remains the hardest thing I've ever done but also the most rewarding. Stick to it!

[@stevenfraser81]

You can do it! I stopped smoking 5 years ago after being a smoker for 20 years and I don't miss it at all. The other day I was leaving a shopping centre and a woman was smoking outside and it smells gross to me now. I don't miss stinking of smoke, or coughing up thick brown phlegm every morning or constantly getting colds and chesty coughs every winter. It's 100% worth it when you finally break the cycle and the cravings go away. You'll wonder why you ever did it and wish you could get back all the money you spent on it.

[@ikmor]

Why was my answer deleted?

[@robertlandin40]

Blows my mind how the population was so easily programmed to hate smoking. Meanwhile all our food and common household goods are full of poison and carcinogens. I used to work for DuPont. We made medical supplies, everything we produced had to be labeled as a cancer causing material prior to shipping. People are stupid and focus on whatever they are told by any authority hat comes along.

[@gabrielinostroza4989]

a lot of things in the modern world are just exercises from ruling bodies in how to shape and influence public opinion to let them do horrific things and get away with it

[@steven_k117]

So true. Why make such a big deal out of smoking but not alcohol or pharma meds which are much more harmful to your health? Look at the pharma commercials constantly all over tv, pushing their poison and all the horrible side effects. Why is that totally ok but tobacco is so bad?

[@TheKingWhoWins]

This doesn't make smoking healthy. So what is actually your point? And some people eat better than others. What a nothing comment

[@malakaman9468]

You are probably commenting in bad faith, but in case you aren't: The big cigarette brands are indeed unhealthy; but not because of tobacco or nicotine. They cause cancer and every disease they list because of all the other chemicals they put in to 'make it less unhealthy'. This anti-tobacco movement most likely started because some snake oil salesman started the myth about how 'a smoker's lung is black'. (They only get like that if you work in coal mines) Nicotine is a drug, but it's just like alcohol or what else. Use it in moderation and you'll be fine. For source search 'A comprehensive review of the many health benefits of smoking Tobacco' as youtube doesn't like links. The article has quotes from certified doctors.

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

"Easily programmed to hate smoking." That's an interesting statement. Did you consider how tobacco companies got people interested in smoking in the first place? Movies! Actors and actresses were paid or contractually required to smoke on screen. And they were SO glamorous! The audiences copied what they saw as stylish. Good thing THAT behavior doesn't happen anymore! Would that fall under your judgemental description of "easily programmed" by "any authority"? Are actors or today's "social media influencers" *_authorities?_* Does that make those first smokers a hundred years ago "stupid people" as well? Convincing people to smoke? Stupid people. Convincing people NOT to smoke? Stupid people. Good thing you're here to figure sh¡t out for the rest of us bumbling idiots! 🙄

[@dimitrilitovsk2372]

An idea for smokers who wanna stop. Don't think about it like quitting. Think of it as starting to make better health choices. If you say quit then your brain associates it negatively. Like oh I quit my job. Nope you aren't quitting being a smoker, you're beginning to make better choices for your health

[@cakesmithofnorwich]

6:44 “smoking or non smoking?” Was a question more commonly used when checking in for tickets at the airport. Hudson’s comment as he is on the computer is that of the airline rep allocating seats at the desk

[@alexanderscott9001]

Exactly..plus it could also just be Hudson referencing a pop culture line that just became part of the lingo over the decades like when he says "game over". This guy on the video completely missed the nuance or too young to understand.

[@Canleaf08]

Airplane! with the fuming « smoking ticket »…

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

Smoking is a stimulant. It helps people think, thats why all teachers staff rooms in the 70s and 80s STUNK of smoke. They ALL used to smoke, it also suppresses appetite which is why a lot of models used to smoke. There are actual benefits to smoking, and no nicotine smoking would be just sort of pointless.

[@rojaws1183]

In the Alien comic Stronghold smoking is definitely bad for your health but Jeri puffing on his cigarr is one of the coolest things ever in the Alien franchise.

[@XLA-zg1nn]

One of the coolest covers aswell

[@rojaws1183]

@@XLA-zg1nn Smoking is cool only when a cool guy like Jeri is smoking.

[@ryans756]

Alright, you heard the man and you know the drill: Assholes and elbows! Hudson, come here. COME HERE.

[@thesleeplessspook]

I always just figured that cigarettes made in the future are from different ingredients that don't cause cancer (re: not tobacco or nicotine). The Surgeon General's warning spotted from time to time would denote other risks that smoking could have, but just not the big 'C" or other life-threatening conditions the habit causes. Super interesting video! I love it when topics like this get discussed.

[@Scorpionwincheater88]

Yeah exactly, no reason that in future there wouldn't be harmless cigarettes

[@Terigena]

It isn't primarily the ingredients in cigarettes that cause lung cancer. The main reason cigarette smoke is carcinogenic is that it is... smoke. Smoke of any kind in one's lungs is bad news, especially prolonged exposure.

[@steven_k117]

Tobacco and nicotine aren't the problem. It's all the toxic chemicals that are added by the big tobacco companies.

[@ConsolasEight]

For Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan the director overhauled all the starchy white sets and uniforms from The Motion Picture, making it all seem more militaristic. One of his inclusions was a “no smoking” sign on the set of the Enterprise bridge. When challenged on this he replied that mankind had been smoking for hundreds if not thousands of years -- where we really going to stop just like that? I'd watched lots of movies and tv shows when I was young which featured smoking. We even had candy cigarettes and fake toy cigarettes at the time. I thought it was funny, but I never wanted to smoke for real until I saw a Calvin & Hobbes strip where Calvin, acting out an imaginary sequence as private detective, lights a cigarette; the noir-style of the comic art made it look so stylish. Glad to say, never took up the habbit :)

[@ADistantImage]

I quit smoking by turning to vapes in 2013, but vaping really started messing my throat up so I quit it to 3.5 years ago. No regerts.

[@ilikemilfsandcougars]

Good job. The scary thing about vaping is that no one really knows what the long term effects are so basically anyone vaping (which includes my kids - my very adult kids) is a guinea pig for the tobacco industry testing out their new "safe" form of nicotine delivery. It definitely is not compatible with asthma I can say that much.

[@WanderingYankee]

Winners never quit. Quitters never win.

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

Good for you. I know people who managed to quit smoking by vaping, but I also know people who got hooked on nicotine vaping and messed themselves up pretty badly. If you managed to kick both, well done!

[@garthhancock3373]

Got kicked out of AA and NA saying that lmao​@@WanderingYankee

[@SpecialOrder935]

“There is one who I could follow … there is one I could call king “ 😂👍

[@anthonyjgreene]

I think smoking is prevalent because it’s a visual shorthand to show that life is cheap. Whether it’s soldiers, or blue-collar workers in space, life is hard and dangerous. Planning to live to 90 is not their highest priority. It’s a visual means of conveying mortality. It’s also a way to visually distinguish between working class and management class.

[@deanlawson6880]

Interesting video dude. While I don't smoke any more, I used to smoke quite a bit in my younger years. I literally gave it up for flying. As a pilot, when you go up in altitude, the air gets thinner, and non-smokers can tolerate thinner air and for longer periods than smokers. Interesting take you put out on the subject - Thanks for this.

[@AaronGantt]

I always assumed Janek was enjoying a Christmas morning blunt, as one does... Also, surprised you didn't bring up the issue of smoking in a spaceship with an oxygen-rich environment. I kept expecting Rob Lowe from Thank You For Smoking to pop up. Nevertheless, I love your attention to detail just for taking the time to make this video. Love the channel!

[@scottneil1187]

Why would the atmosphere be oxygen rich?, we only breathe 21% oxygen on Earth, less at higher altitudes. Too much oxygen kills us.

[@davidpaylor5666]

Don't know if your aware of this but the air quality and oxygen enrichment on airplanes went down when they banned smoking on flights. They reduced the partial pressure of O2 on all flights and the refresh rate for the whole plane was reduced. It would be no more dangerous to smoke on a space ship than it would be to smoke in, say, your apartment, less so in fact because you can't turn the oxygen off in your apartment..

[@Rodrigo_Vega]

One of the things that struck me as funny when I started readin science fiction classic was how often characters in Assimov's Foundation would crack out massive cigars and I felt it felt so un-futuristic even on a setting with emperors and "barbarians".

[@robertwebber3446]

Also in Foundation books some of the peripheral characters would smoke cigarettes and when done , drop the butt down a hole in the desk which would flash apparently disintegrating it! So one futuristic advancement, no stinky ashtrays!

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

Were the cigars smoked by corporate fat cats or loudmouth A-hole types? Was it used to represent a character type or just everyone smoked cigars like it was normal and common?

[@johnnydragongaming]

Really interesting video. I love these random deep dives into the society and culture of the future

[@padawanmage71]

It’s possible the colony worlds may have lessened restrictions, especially if the ‘clean’ versions may cost more?

[@GRPLiningServices]

I’m nearly 60 and have been smoking since I was 18. Never felt so alive and I look cool whenever I smoke.

[@albertlamar5938]

I took it as characteristic of the occupation/social class of those depicted: working class "truckers in space"...grunts on deployment...convicts. Had not considered the safe cigarette of the future explanation. As always, enjoy your thoughts, writing, and narration. Waiting for the new movie and series. I want them NOW!

[@melgibsonafter5beers329]

Virgin Cottonmouth - Vaping Vs The Chad throat cancer - Cigarettes

[@figeon]

VS the Gigachad wizard pipe smoker

[@user-er9eq5ri6f]

People just need to admit that smoking is cool and it looks cool. At least depicted in media it looks cool

[@KickinRadTopHat]

This. Never been much of a smoker myself but I can’t deny that something about smoking just looks and feels cool. Maybe this is an old man opinion but I’ll never understand how vapes overtook cigarettes among young people simply because vapes have nowhere near the cool factor that cigarettes do.

[@EarlHare]

As a former smoker (10 years smoke free!!) and avid sci fi movie fan, I literally cannot make it through this video without wanting to smoke. These movies put something in me that I can't get out.

[@emknight2]

That reminds me of the restaurant my family went into a few years ago with a smoking and non-smoking area it blew my mind cause I'd never seen it before my dad said it took him back to his childhood. The whole place reeked, but the food was great.

[@hrvsmart]

Where in the world was it?

[@FayAlexGG]

You can trust that is where you can get a decent hamburger

[@D-Fens_1632]

Back then we assumed we would smell smoke everywhere, it was just a matter of do you want it being directly blown at you or happening on the other side of the room.

[@MrUndersolo]

I love this one! Never really concerned myself with the smoking, but you have uncovered a great deal about what this long running habit represents...

[@TheKingWhoWins]

In the franchise you never concerned yourself or, in real life?

[@richiek1155]

I think it’s also a bit of smoking looking cool. It also gives actors something to do with there hands between talking. Like eating or drinking. Smoking lets your character look “cool” and then have something to be doing while acting.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

The idea of a cig without nicotine is a useless as liquor without alcohol, or a monster without caffein

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

As a none-smoker I should be happy that smoking got less prominent in both cinema and real life, but honestly, when I watch a film and nobody in it is smoking, it just ruins immersion a bit, because it's just not realistic. Also, in Screamers people were required to smoke special cigs called Red to counteract the negative impact of radiation storms or something like that. I don't remember the details, it's been awhile since I watched that film. Also, you should have spoken more of Bladerunner, since it's so prominently featured in the video.

[@myblacklab7]

I agree 100%. I'm sick of Hollywood trying to be activists, rather than trying to tell compelling, realistic stories. It's especially ridiculous when you consider that Hollywood shows non-stop depictions of glorified violence, and in some cases the "heroes" have no good reason to be killing people (see, e.g. "The Boys"). Hollywood apparently thinks it's totally acceptable to kill people, just so long as you don't smoke.

[@mattirealm]

Smoking has gone out...thankfully. I have known a few extended family members that did indeed die from lung cancer, related to smoking. My new years resolution is from 1-1-2005. Yes, I quit my "2 packs a day" icky ass habit 19 years ago. Trust me, there is not a day that goes by that I am super happy I quit smoking. It really sucks.

[@FlyCasual1]

Another fantastic video about something I had never considered... my mother was a chain smoker, died at 58 years old. I've never smoked, yet I wonder how much of her smoke I inhaled passively as a kid... probably some of which I breathed in while watching the pirate VHS I had of Aliens in 1986... peace out

[@myblacklab7]

I wouldn't worry about it - my parents smoked, and it didn't affect me at all. Then I smoked, and the difference was very obvious. The risks from secondhand smoke have been greatly exaggerated.

[@JescoJimBo]

Good video. I never smoked tobacco, and I quit weed when I was about 25. I also quit drinking in July 2022 (38). Both were very challenging to quit. No looking back! I'm doing so good. It really upsets me that these billion dollar companies work so hard to push their poison on us. Yes, for the most part we're adults and should be able to make our own decisions. But, for many of us, life is brutal. Its so easy to turn to smoking, alcohol, or drug use (they're all basically drugs to me). Before you know it, you're hooked. And then you have to go through the misery of trying to quit. Its heart breaking to see people go through this.

[@user-hx3wk5ux5h]

I raise a glass and cheers to ya, keep up the good fight my dude. Addiction is a disease of the mind and you have mastered your self. Good job. I however am a slave to myself so I give in to the urge, but not as often as I used to.

[@JescoJimBo]

@@user-hx3wk5ux5h You can do it man! Allen Carr's book on quitting drinking helped me a lot. I thought those books were ridiculous and wouldn't help at all,, but I was wrong. Not every word in the book is ground breaking, but there are a couple chapters that made a huge difference to me. I used to just read it over and over when I was jones'ing bad,, especially my first couple weekends going dry. I think you can find it on line as a download, its also on youtube as an audio book.

[@dizzybee7386]

Well, it's a damn-sight easier than lugging a hookah around with you. Yes, I'm being a little facetious. So, apparently nicotine and caffeine are sister drugs with similar effects, as stimulants. Both are without odour or taste in their pure form. Why nobody drinks tobacco as a tea is for the same reason no-one smokes coffee - it's a ritual that embellishes the impurities. Now as an eighties kid I understand the extension of human behaviour through the cigarette - people laugh, they tap it merrily against the tray. People are upset, it shakes between the fingers and the jittery gasps are obvious. It has production value for the audience of the time that relates to them without words - "show, don't tell". I guess if the characters stood around nursing their coffee, it wouldn't have the same dramatic expression. Unless they're an on-call doctor, like in Gray's Anatomy; or it drops and hits the floor, slo-mo, which can be over-dramatic. From this point, I can suspend disbelief of the tobacco timeline-context because there's a bloody great pissed alien (designed by a surrealist) murdering folk in space-craft that just so happen to have artifcial gravity.

[@annebruecks7381]

Drinking tobacco will kill you.

[@raychapman1134]

Another great video. This is without a doubt one of my favorite channels. Thanks for all of the work you do entertaining us all.

[@Taskforce1]

smoking will never go away. it in one form or another has and always will be something humans partake in.

[@GDeNofa]

I think it makes sense that cigarettes would remain in the alien timeline. No matter what they would be told or gimmicks, cigs will stay addictive because money talks.

[@Vonstadt]

Hudson's joke referenced airline flight preference. Also the 70's and 80's are at the door, they are here for 2024's lunch money.

[@dwaneanderson8039]

He could have inserted the "smoking or nonsmoking?" scene from Airplane!

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

I'm old enough to remember smoking sections in restaurants. Before they tried doing fancy things with ventilation, I can remember being with my parents at restaurants, watching the smoke drift from the smoking section over to us in non-smoking...

[@dvforever]

Sigourney is smoking in Avatar! The year is 2154 and she was still lighting up. I liked this little touch. Gives her more character.

[@tims9434]

I think you generally find the working class are more likely to smoke and they're the ones depicted in the Alien Movies

[@RingworldTyrant]

Completely agree. It presents a much harsher and grittier world, not one of stasis and over-consumption.

[@robertlandin40]

Working class? Drive by any hospital and see surgeons, nurses. Most investors in any trading center. Not just working class.

[@knickebien1966]

I wonder if Weyland-Yutani had an interest in the "space tobacco" business...

[@TheKingWhoWins]

I think we both know the answer that question. 🤑🫰

[@ejhouston3554]

Smoking will always be around as it's one way for the character to relieve stress or deal with a stressful situation.

[@pbxn-3rdx-85percent]

Unfortunately humans will always be smoking as long as there are wars and conflicts. The addiction to cigarettes spread around the world during World War 2. A year ago a British guy who volunteered to fight for Ukraine was interviewed and one very cold night after the russians rained shells and rockets on their training camp they waited long hours before going back to their quarters. Most of the guys with him huddling inside the icy trench were smoking to calm down. Sometimes the combination of boredom and fear just pushes a man to smoke.

[@listerofsmeg9908]

I'm not saying the topic wasn't interesting, but you make everything very interesting.

[@seamusesparza1943]

Smoking and smoking seating could always make a comeback. Things come and go in fashion. Who knows? Maybe snorting snuff comes in vogue again.

[@justinriley]

Fascinating video as always.

[@jtompkins1277]

If I'm facing imminent death by xenomorph or space incident, I'm definitely lighting up here and there.

[@chrissyknowsitall5170]

Great video!!! Long time smoker here and im glad to see fewer smokers in the movies.

[@dogofwar6769]

Well vaping was supposed to be a safer alternative to traditional smoking. Maybe it is, maybe it is. But the anti-smoking industry has done it's best to try and hit it harder than traditional smoking methods.

[@johnhayden8666]

It cut into big tobacco's profits. Such a joke how people fall for the propaganda.

[@myblacklab7]

You mean the smoking cessation lobbyists. ;) There's a lot of money in nicotine gum, etc.

[@hard_at_work]

I'm curious now where the term " smoke 'em if you got 'em " originated and how many times it's been repeated or something similar. Definitely all ways and reasons shown, such is art. I keep thinking of Bilbo and Gandalf sitting together at the start of the Hobbit. Also Sigourney Weaver missed the memo on Ellen Ripley's character in Alien cause boy is she smokin'!! 😍👌😉 had to add that one in. Love the channel and message to quit! 🚭

[@bummblebee77]

First time I heard it was in Spaceballs

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

Probably World War 2 during lulls in the fighting.

[@almostrox7270]

I like how in fifth element the cigarettes were like 80% filter but I wonder why no one thought of electronic cigarettes in these older sci-fi movies.

[@Krocxigor]

I hated that, as a smoker it made me wonder just how much more chemicals they inhaled into their lungs then we do. Seriously cancer cases must be through the roof as they are inhaling more of the filter then the tobacco. I get that it was a joke in that he was trying to quit smoking so less and less tobacco but considering the worst part of our current day cigs are the filters and the chemicals added to the tobacco it just bugged me.....otherwise I freaking love that movie.

[@josephmassaro]

I always found smoking in space comical. You're on a ship, space station or other pressurized environment with a limited oxygen supply and air scrubbers and you're making this finite resource work overtime. I'm surprised we don't see the futuristic version of smokers today...a bunch people on a smoke break all huddled inside the external airlock.

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

Or a maintenance guy struggling to repair an air scrubber while smoking. I'd like to see that.

[@josephmassaro]

@@user-sm3th7ow5w Let's stick to reality.

[@WVUer21]

I made an agreement with my fiancé, kids, and higher power to stop drinking, but you're never taking away my nicotine. I really enjoyed this one, AT!

[@fatfreddyscoat7564]

I used to smoke and I still miss the ritual of smoking, not the smoking itself. If they invented healthy ciggies I’d probably smoke again.

[@JuanDiegoPinillos]

Not all countries, not all people are leaving tobacco

[@RNemy509]

This video made me want a smoke, so I had one 😂

[@BlueJayWaters]

I'm not sure why you decided to make a video on this topic, but I absolutely love the fact you did. Considering how vaping was seen as the cleaner alternative for a brief time, I think its extremely likely a "pure" tobacco will be created. And there has been a slight uptick in cigarette smokers in younger generations. I smoked from 13-21, then quit for almost 9 years before the pandemic and life turned me back onto smoking for a year. And its a very common story that we turn to old vices when stressed. I genuinely don't think smoking will ever go away until well into the 22nd century

[@onieyoh9478]

I love my cigarettes and don't want to quit.

[@Wyrmwould]

I had a copy of the Aliens script once that had an extra bit of dialogue in the scene when Burke tells Ripley about Amanda's death. He tells her that Amanda died of cancer and then adds that "they" hadn't beat cancer yet. But in general I think the depiction of smoking in the future will prove to be an unfortunately accurate prediction. In other words, despite our best efforts to minimize it, smoking will probably never go away completely. It seems to be an extremely stubborn habit and the use of it will probably rise and fall in waves with a basic trajectory downward.

[@olliesmith2890]

You are right mate when it comes to the smoking in Ghostbusters. Smoking scenes are dramatically different in Ghostbusters 2, as the only moment i remember in GB2 with smoking in it, is when the Busters are sliming up Lady Liberty to get her to walk, and Ray has a cigar in his mouth, but that is it. The original classic movie, was chock full of characters smoking(Peter, Ray, Winston mainly, but other side characters too). As Ghostbusters is a franchise like Alien, that is close to my heart, i never really noticed this till you said. Thanks my friend, great video.

[@deceptivepanther]

I was a chain smoker that quit twenty years ago. I think the "smoking or non smoking" is more a reference to buying an airline ticket. Yes, you could smoke on planes. I think the producer's comment that Ripley looked ridiculous, refers to how smokers could always tell when a smoking actor was really a non-smoker. I'm not sure how exactly, but you just could. My favourite sci-fi smoker was Doc Cottle on Battlestar Galactica. Seriously unrepentant.

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

The most overly animated, unrepentant smoker I've ever seen was Andrew Dice Clay doing stand-up. He lit his cigarettes in ways no one ever has, before or since.

[@mstcrow5429]

Star Trek didn't have smoking, because it's a better future. In the Aliens universe, the future is darker, and generally worse for almost everyone, it seems. So makes sense that smoking is still around, everything else kinda sucks, so what's going to get better?

[@robertbeckman2054]

I grew up in the 80’s, and remember it was cool to see people on film smoking. Then, 1993 came and got rid of indoor smoking. Then, it seemed like smoking was the think to blame, while alcohol was lauded as just fine. I thought tobacco use went way down after the 200’s, but boy was I wrong. E-cigarette, vapes, tobacco paper pouches are everywhere, and east to hide. Smoking is just like it’s always been.

[@sbaltys]

I've been smoking for 25 years. 2 years ago I switched from smoking to vaping. Last year California passed a law banning sale of vapes. I'm on my last cartridge, and my goal is stop after that... Smoking could be an overall fad that comes and goes. Perhaps in the future when people are isolated on spaceships for long times, smoking will rise in popularity again as people cope with the metal challenges that isolation presents.

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

If you had a job where you got paid to sleep through 90% of it, would that really be considered a stressful job? Smoking on spaceships will probably never happen, at least in our lifetimes simply because the air recyclers can't handle it. The entire crew breathes the same air, so unless you have a massive ship with massive air circulation, recycling and filtration, we're not going to see it.

[@literallyjustgrass]

@@user-sm3th7ow5win that case maybe it'd be nicotine gum, the point about substance use under stress still stands

[@jonanjello]

Excellent subject matter and handled well. I had never considered how prevalent is smoking in the Alien films!

[@davidpaylor5666]

Re-watched "Blade Runner" the other day after a gap of ten years or so. It's no wonder all of the shots look dream-like and misty, you're seeing everything through the smoke of a million dodgy-looking cigarettes.

[@Phamtomdark]

So I could understand a specific room, or a captain modifying their bridge to allow smoking, but on a standard space fairing vessel, in a pressurized container with presumably fresh o2 being stored somewhere on the ship; just asking for a fire... on your spaceship.

[@TheCorpsehatch]

I can remember in the 80s and 90s when there were vending machines you could buy cigarettes.

[@nicholasgordon4999]

The vending machines to buy cigarettes existed right up until about 10 years ago - in the UK anyway. Every pub had one. And I can remember seeing them as late as 2010.

[@Shottamanrambo]

Ngl. Enjoying cannabis in space and being able to see everything from the cockpit window is a dream of mine lol

[@CLCasual]

Tobacco has been made taboo, taboo always has a certain lure to it that some find hard to resist. The harder they supress, the harder supression is resisted as a result. Its human nature

[@omnirath]

Not really the use of tobacco has decreased dramatically in movies and in real life during the last 30 years

[@edwinsmith-jones6205]

Without that cigarette hanging off his lip, Ray's amazed reaction to encountering Slimer wouldn't have been as funny. Being born in the mid 70s, I grew up in a world where smoking was common, but I've never smoked or felt the desire to do so. In fact , back in those days it was considered unusual that neither of my parents smoked. Both of my grandfathers enjoyed a pipe, and my great-grandmother, who made it well into her 80s, got through 2 or 3 packets of cigarettes a day didn't die of a smoking related illness.

[@TheSacredOrderOfKnightlyValor]

Maybe it just looks cool to blow smoke as the embers cast on orange glow across your face, and maybe rebels who battle xenomorphs don't limit themselves to the sensibilities of the weak who confmorm.

[@annebruecks7381]

No confmorming!

[@DrooMighty]

I'm glad you made this video, because very recently I was thinking the same thing with a completely different fictional universe. I'm a huge fan of William Gibson, especially "The Sprawl" trilogy of books he wrote in the 1980s that many consider the birth of "cyberpunk". Smoking is very ubiquitous in his depiction of the future, and in a way lends itself to the charm of an "alternate history". Many works of fiction that speculate the future from the 1970s and 1980s share a common theme of ignoring things like the changing public perception of tobacco use simply because it was unthinkable to the authors of the time, and in a way it helps to "sell" the idea of a diverging timeline from our own better. The same could be said for the lack of foresight for things such as mobile phones, or the concept of climate change being heavily underrepresented or ignored entirely.

[@jaegershoemaker8959]

I smoked for a decade and quit smoking 5 years ago, but smoking in space will always be cool. But still: don't smoke cigarettes.

[@McShaganpronouncedShaegen]

Quit smoking after 25 years of a pack a day habit. It does get easier and have not wanted or even thought about a cigarette in 10 years. It can be done if you want to.

[@trueaspect5888]

Its crazy because a few weeks ago I was watching Aliens and thought about Hudson's line about 'smoking or non-smoking'. This movie takes place over 150 years in the future and only the people old enough to remember the 90's and before will know about this choice given by restaurants and hotels. Even the kids born today won't know about that phrase so how did Hudson in 2179? of course we always see things from our time in movies that take place 'in the future' just like any futuristic movie that has box CRT style screens and not even flat screens we use today.

[@scottleon2311]

smoking is bad but worst of all its creates a horrible addiction for you thats almost ubeatable

[@myblacklab7]

That's only true if you believe everyone who is or was a smoker. ;)

[@ileutur6863]

It really amuses me how americans had this hard cultural shift from over smoking, to hating cigarettes, yet weed is legal in most of the country and a vaping epidemic is going on.

[@bloodorange6713]

Because Americans have no individual thoughts, only what they are told or marketed

[@HeyFella]

I haven’t watched the full video yet, but I imagine in the future if cancer is cured then cigarettes could come back into fashion as a cool nostalgic thing.

[@printisdead1983]

Exactly why wouldnt cig companies have their customers LIVE FOREVER its so ass ackwards anymore

[@ikmor]

Smoking doesn't only cause cancer.

[@hendo337]

I remember the world where we could smoke nearly anywhere. I remember I used go places then to eat or have a drink or watch a movie or bowl or skate. I remember a camaraderie between us and good conversations we had when we smoked, I believe that was what they wanted to stop, if you think they give a damn about your health, you are dead wrong, they think there are too many of us and want less of us around. Since they took away my privilege to smoke, I cook my own meals at home, I gave up drinking completely and I never go out for any form or recreational activity that is indoors where I am unable to smoke.

[@user-sm3th7ow5w]

I remember that world too and I'm glad it's gone. One of my first jobs out of highschool was working at Denny's as a dishwasher. I would take my lunch break in the lunch room and all the waitresses would find their way back there to smoke whenever I went to lunch. It was a small cramped closet basically. I hated the smoke but that was something you just had to tolerate back then. I remember after that I'd perk up when I'd smell a cigarette was first lit up. There's a slightly different smell that became attractive to me for years, certainly because those women would light their cigarettes near me. They weren't already smoking when they came in. I think I stopped noticing it so much because people have stopped smoking so much in public. It's a good thing and I personally like bans on it _in public._ Smoking in your home is your business and as long as it doesn't affect me and I can't smell it, that's your business and you should be allowed to do it.

[@giallosubmarine5223]

When I quit after 20 years of smoking, I threw my last packet away and said Ripley's line from Alien 3 - You've been in my life so long I don't remember anything else.

[@ketomine.]

wonderful video, doesn't talk down to those that smoke, just focuses on the topic at hand.

[@ministerofdarkness]

Fascinating theories. One of the best decisions I have ever made was quitting smoking in 2000. Now everyone vapes which isn't any better for you. Anyways, smoke if ya got 'em. 🚭

[@toyboxphilosopher]

Loved this microstudy into the alien universe! Thanks again for deep diving into the things that matter most Derek :)

[@Von-Alex]

Thank you for bringing this up… I have always hated promoting smoking anywhere.. and always seen the smokers as the bad guys in movies and series… watching my kids growing up in a world where smoking, vaping and chewing tobacco is getting more and more common… is making me sick and worried

[@edwardhinton1615]

I'd listen to the whole original screenplay of Alien with this guy narrating.

[@RingworldTyrant]

He has an awesome voice.

[@AlienTheory]

I can arrange that

[@MrAlsachti]

Even with a such niche subject as the Alien franchise, it is still possible to find original and interesting things to say. I'd love to see a character in a future Alien movie reflecting on the continuing use of cigarettes, like in this video.

[@PurrsPlace]

"What? You don't remember?" The line of this video! 8D

[@kerbal666]

I like to think old trends come and go. I vape in an effort to quit but every now and then I pop a Sterling and boy it's nice!